Floating boat dock



y 1959 L."N. SMITH FLOATING BOAT DOCK Filed Feb. 21. 1955 2 Sheets-Sheet l 406/; A. SII/TH y 2, 1959 N. SMITH FLOATING BOAT DOCK 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 I Filed Feb. 21, 1955 mmvmx. 406/05 /V. 544/777 BY Z flTTUR/VEVS 2,885,987 FLOATING BOAT DOCK Lucius N. Smith, Montvcrde, Fla.

Application February 21, 1955, Serial 'No. 489,612 1 Claim. (Cl. 114-.5

My invention relates to a floating boat dock and is an improvement over that shown in my co-pending application, Serial No. 435,568, filed June 9, 1954, now Patent .No. 2,70-8,346, dated May 17, 1955, entitled Boat Dock.

United States Patent dock of the character designated which shall be adapted .to float upon water whereby it compensates automatically for changes in the level of thewater. A more specific object of my invention ,is to provide a boat dock of the character designated embodying semicircular end walls connected by a semi-cylindrical roof which is pivotally connected along one side to a frame supported by. detachable buoyant members.

A still further object of my invention is to provide a boat dock of the character designated which shall be simple ofconstruction, economical ,of manufacture and one which can be readily assembled and installed.

Briefly, my improved boat dock comprises a frame supported upon a body of water by detachable buoyant members and a walkway or ramp pivotally connecting the .frame to an adjacent stationary memberbordering the body of water, thus compensating for variations in the water level. A roof is pivotally mounted along one side to the frame and secured rigidly to the pivoted side of the roof are outwardly projecting arms. The outer ends of the arms are so connected to a boat withinthe dock that the boat is raised and lowered in response to move- .ment of the roof about its pivotal connection to lowered and raised positions respectively.

A boat dock illustrating features of my invention is shown in the accompanying drawings forming a part of this application, in

. Fig.1 1 is a plan view of the boat dock;

Fig. 2'is a rear elevational view of the boat dock taken along the line II-II of Fig. 1; and,

ils'a $F iQ View taken along, the line HI -III satfts- -1:

Referring now to the drawings for a better understand ing of my invention, I show a frame 10 supported by elongated lbuoyant members 11 and 12 which are spaced from and extend substantially parallel to each other, as shown in Fig. 1. The frame 10 comprises longitudinally extending side frame members 13 and 14 forming walkways which are rigidly connected at the ends thereof. The frame members 13 and 14 are connected at the end nearest the bank, or forward end, by a vertical plate 15. The central portion of the vertical plate 15 may be bent outwardly as at 16 to accommodate the forward end of a boat 17, as shown in Fig. 1. The upper edge of the vertical plate 15 is bent outwardly and forwardly to form a transverse frame member 18 which is also connected Patented May 12,. 1959 to the frame members 13 and 14 and serves as a walkway. As shown in Fig. 1, the frame member 18 terminates at the point it is secured to the inner side of the frame member 14. To give added strength to the transverse frame member 18, it is connected to the vertical plate 15 by a plurality of brace members 19, as shown in Figs. 1 and 3. At the rear the side, frame members 13 and 14 are connected by an upwardly bowed arcuate frame member 20.

The frame member -is provided with downturne flanges 13a at the sides thereof and a downturned flange 13b at the rear end thereof. In like manner, the member 14 is provided with downturned flanges 14a. at the sides thereof and a downturned flange 14b at the rear end thereof. The downturnedflanges 13a, 13b, 14a and 14b give added strength to the frame 10 and together with the vertical plate 15 extend downwardly alongside the buoyant members lland 12 whereby the weight of the frame 10 retains the members 11 and 12 in place, as shown in Figs. 2 and 3. The buoyant members are thus held in place beneath the frame members 13 and 14 without the necessity of permanent securing means. Ac-

cordingly the buoyant members may be readily removed,

when necessary.

Hingedly connected to the. inner side of the frame member 13 by hinge connections 21 is a semi-cylindrical downwardly opening roof member 22, having end walls 23, and 24 which with the side, frame members 13 and 14, buoyant members 11 and 12 and end plate 15 forms an enclosure for the boat 17. Mounted on the free side of the roof 22 opposite the pivoted side, as shown in Fig. 3, is a handle member 27. To facilitate movement of the roof member 22 from raised to closed. positionfa flexible member, such as a rope 28, may be attached to the handle 27. While I have shown the roof 22 as being in the form of a semi-cylindrical member, it will be apparent that it may be of any suitable shape. Also, while I have shown a rope 28 as being attached to the handle 27 to facilitate movement of the roof toward closed position, other means may be employed. h

Secured to the pivoted side of the roof 22 adjacent the ends thereof are outwardly projecting arms 29 and 31. Secured to the vertical wall 15 and projecting below the lower edge thereofis a bracket 32 which carries a sheave 33. Secured to the rear end of the frame member .13 is a bracket 34 which carries a sheave 36. Secured tached to the inner end of the cable 42 is a 'hookmember 43 which engages a lifting ring 44 mounted, on' the forward end ofthe boat 17.. .Secured to the free-end ef the arm 31 is a cable 46 which passesunder the sheave 36 and then over the sheave 41, as shown in Fig. 2. Attached to the inner end of the cable 46 are short lengths of cable 47 and 48 having hooks 49 and 51 at the ends thereof which engage lifting rings 52 and 53, respectively, at the rear end of the boat 17. While I have described the cables 42 and 46 as passing around sheaves, it will be apparent that other suitable means may be employed, such as chocks or the like.

Pivotally connected to the forward end of the frame member 14 by means of a hinge pin 54 is one end of a walkway or ramp 56. The other end of the walkway 56 is hingedly connected to a stationary hinge member 57 by means of a hinge pin 58. As shown in Fig. l,

the buoyant members '11 and 12 support the frame over a body of water indicated "at W adjacent a bank-B, or other stationary means, which borders the water W. Anchored in the bank B by'means of anchoring pins 59 is atransverse "beam 61. The hinge member 57 is rigidly secured to the beam 61 "'by suitable means, such as bolts '62 "and nuts 63.

To aid further in limiting movement 'of the boat dock in the water, a beam 64 may be pivotally connected at one end to theforward end-of the frame member 13, as shown in'Fig. l with its other end 'pivotally connected by means of a hinge pin 66 to a hinge member 67 which is rigidly secured to the transverse beam 61 by bolts 68.

-From the foregoing description, the operation of my "improved dock will be readily understood. When the boat'17 is notin use the roof 22 is in its lowered position, :as shown in Fig. 3 and the boat is raised out of the water, the weight of the roof counterbalancing that of the boat. Asthe roof moves toward raised position, as

shown in Fig. 2, the cables 42 and 46 pass around their respective sheaves whereby the inner ends of the cables move downwardly to lower the boat into'the water. The cables are of a length whereby when the roof is moved to fully raised position the boat is lowered into the water "and there is sufficient slack in the cables to disengage the hook members 43, 49 and 51 from their respective lifting rings. With the roof 22 in raised position, the boat may be loaded from the side member 14 and re- :moved from the dock outwardly and rearwardly under the arcuate frame member 20.

To dock the boat with the roof 22 in raised position, the boat is moved within the dock between the side frame members 13 and 14 and the hook members 43, 49 and 51 are attached to their respective lifting rings. The roof is then moved to lowered position, whereupon the cables 42 and '46 move about their respective sheaves to lift the boat from the Water. In this position, the arms 29 and '31 extend outwardly in substantially a horizontalplane, as shown in Fig. 3. With the boat thus connected to the roof, the boat serves to counterbalance the "Weight of the roof so that a relatively small lifting force is required to lift the roof. 'That is, the boat serves as the principal lifting force when the roof is moved from lowered to raised position. Also, the roof serves as the principal lifting force for raising the boat from the water when the roof is lowered.

With the dock hingedly connected to the transverse beam 61 on the adjacent bank B, it is free to move vertically as the water level is raised and lowered, thus adjusting itself to the proper water level and at the same time the walkway 56 connects the adjacent bank to the dock. The side frame member 13 at the pivoted side of the roof aids in supporting the roof when the same is moved to its raised position. When the roof is moved to lowered position, the frame members 13 and 14, together with the transverse frame 18 form a substantially continuous walkway around three sides of the boat.

From the foregoing description it will be seen that I have devised an improved boat dock. By providing a floating dock hingedly connected to an adjacent bank by a walkway, the dock compensates automatically for lifted out of the water in response to lowering the roof whereby the weight of the boat is counterbalanced by that of the roof.

While 1 have described the buoyant members '11 and 12 as being detachable, it will beapparent that they could be fixedly secured to the frame members 13 and 14 or formed as an integral part of the frame members.

While I have shown my invention in but one form, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that it is not so limited, but is susceptible of various changes and modifications without departing from the spirit thereof, and I desire, therefore, that only such limitations shall be placed thereupon as are specifically set forth in the appended claim.

What 1 claim is:

In a boat dock, a pair of elongated transversely spaced frame members rigidly secured to each other at one end by a transverse frame member and at the other end by an upstanding arcuate member, removable buoyant members beneath said transversely sp'aced frame members, de-

pending members on said frame members disposed along" side said buoyant members and holding said buoyant members in place, a roof pivotally mounted along one side to one of said transversely spaced frame members, outwardly extending arms rigidly secured to the pivoted side of the roof adjacent opposite ends thereof, an upstanding support member mounted intermediately of said transverse frame member, a first sheave mounted on the upper end of said support member, a second sheave mounted on the upper central portion of said arcuate member, other sheaves fixedly mounted below the level of the pivoted side of the roof and below said outwardly extending arms, a cable passing over said first sheave and under the adjacent one of said other sheaves, a second cable passing over said second sheave and under the adjacent one of said other sheaves, means connecting the outer end of each cable to the outer end of an adjacent outwardly extending arm, and boat engaging means connected to the inner ends of said cables.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,054,505 Butters Feb. 25, 1913 1,804,667 Bitte May 12, 1931 2,200,550 Helmets May 14, 1940 2,381,789 'Iurnbull Aug. 7, 1945 2,708,346 Smith May 17, 1 955 2,744,483 Rhindress May 8, 1 956 FOREIGN PATENTS 865,653 Germany a. Feb. 2, 1953 289.313 Switzerland Jan. 4. 1954 

